This invention relates to a system comprising a mail processing apparatus which comprises a number of processing stations including at least an envelope inserter or an envelope opener, and a control system which controls at least one processing station for assembling sheets to form at least one document to be mailed or for processing received documents, the system further comprising at least one external diagnostic device separate from the mail processing apparatus and a communication channel between the control system and the diagnostic device.
Such a device is known inter alia from European patent application no. 373969. With the apparatus according to European patent application no. 373969, postal items are prepared for dispatch.
Typically, use is made of such mail processing apparatuses when large amounts of documents, such as letters, invoices, bank statements, and the like are to be processed. This involves a problem in that no efficient method is available to ensure and provide that the apparatus functions properly at all times. Because in practice the mail processing apparatus is often used with a highly varying load, it has been found in prior art apparatuses to be difficult to predict when a malfunction is to be expected or to timely carry out preventive maintenance. This entails the problem that it may happen quite unexpectedly that the apparatus no longer functions properly, with the result that, for instance, in a business where the apparatus is arranged, major problems arise. Postal items which are not timely dispatched in a business or, once received, are not processed speedily for distribution over the various departments of the business may have disastrous consequences for business management. For that reason, it has long been desired to realize a system in which the chances of the mail processing apparatus failing and/or functioning suboptimally are particularly small. It is true that if preventive maintenance is carried out with an unduly high frequency, the chances of failure are somewhat reduced but this entails an undesired economic disadvantage. In addition, there is a desire to realize a system in which malfunctions, if any, can be rapidly remedied. In the system according to the European patent application, the control system of the mail processing apparatus generates diagnostic information about processing stations of the mail processing apparatus. The diagnostic information in question is therefore generated locally, i.e. by the mail processing apparatus itself. Such diagnostic information can, for instance, be that a malfunction has been detected in the software or hardware of the mail processing apparatus. The diagnostic information can also be that it has been concluded that maintenance is required. The diagnostic information thus generally locally is then fed via the communication channel to the diagnostic device. On the basis of the diagnosis made locally, the diagnostic device only makes a decision or establishes that a fault is present. Accordingly, the diagnostic device does not generate any new information, i.e. new diagnostic information with an added value from the received diagnostic information.
A disadvantage of the system is that in practice it has been found that the locally obtained diagnostic information is not always reliable and/or complete. A consequence is that, for instance, a maintenance crew for the diagnostic device may be sent out by mistake. It has also been found that in this way different processing stations make mutually different diagnoses. Accordingly, the treatment of different processing apparatuses will mostly not be uniform. Nor is it possible to obtain additional diagnostic information in the external diagnostic device when the available diagnostic information is found to be insufficient, since the acquisition of diagnostic information is carried out locally. Another disadvantage is that if it is decided to provide the system with new diagnostic facilities, every mail processing apparatus would have to be programmed anew to be able to locally generate the relevant new diagnostic information.